INSTEAD of witnessing the swollen waters of two nearby rivers sweep their home, a Katherine couple waited to jet home from holiday to gauge the wreckage.
John Etty and Caroline Milright from Wilderness Farms on Edith Farms Road were in Brisbane and Adelaide when the Edith River Christmas flood washed two metres of water through their organic farm.
“Our ordeal wasn’t during the flood, ours has been cleaning up since then,” Caroline said.
Upon his arrival home, John was greeted by silt-covered debris strewn across the property.
Ten kilometers of fencing and two kilometres of irrigation were ripped up.
“Stuff was washed away downstream, there were belongings buried in the grass.”
The farm’s crops had been harvested but mango and cover crops were still in.
John has spent weeks tinkering with flooded machinery, but keeps running up against setbacks.
“I get some vehicles going, but find more problems with electrical things.
“I’ve pulled three or four tractors apart,” he said.
The trip home to the dreaded scene awaiting them, began the day after the flood.
“The day after Boxing Day we heard about it, and I came back on the 28th (of December),” John said.
The farmer said he had t hire a chopper to take him from Pine Creek to Katherine, where a scene of devastation greeted him.
Only one 4WD and tractor were insured, but friends have pulled the community together to help get the couple back on its feet.
Friend Cheryl Rogers coordinated donations of beds, sofas, filing cabinets, cupboards, linen, crockery and cutlery.
Cheryl was first employed by John and Caroline as a farm hand when she moved to the NT from Zimbabwe 12 years ago.
“Obviously, I’d seen they had pretty much lost everything, so I sent an email on to the community,” she said.
“The folk have been amazing.
“Everyone can relate to floods wherever you live.”
John said it was the worst he had seen in 20 years living in the area.
“We had a flood a metre deep once before, but this one was twice the height and (caused) more than twice the damage.”
For now, John said it was a wait and see game to get their affairs sorted.
The couple is assessing finances and options, but John said they may have to look at alternatives.
“It’s going to be a reduced effort, just because we’ve got reduced (capacity).
“We would like to probably go somewhere else, we might have to look for off-farm work.
“We’re getting a bit past working seven days a week,” he said.
John appealed to the NT Government to speed up flood assistance for those left waiting.
“We would hope the government would provide any assistance as soon as they can.”
He said there were assistance programs that assessed business condition, income and future direction, but a less time-consuming option was needed.
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